< Ruth 2 >

1 Forsothe a myyti man and a man `of grete richessis, `Booz bi name, `was kynysman of Elymelech.
And Noemin had [a friend] an acquaintance of her husband, and the man [was] a mighty man of the kindred of Elimelech, and his name [was] Booz.
2 And Ruth of Moab seide to hir modir in lawe, If thou comaundist, Y schal go in to the feeld, and Y schal gadere eeris of corn that fleen the hondis of reperis, where euer Y schal fynde grace of an hosebonde man merciful in me. To whom sche answeride, Go, my douyter.
And Ruth the Moabitess said to Noemin, Let me go now to the field, and I will glean among the ears behind the man with whomsoever I shall find favour: and she said to her, Go, daughter.
3 Therfor `sche yede, and gaderide eeris of corn after the backis of reperis. Forsothe it bifelde, that `thilke feeld hadde a lord, Booz bi name, that was of the kynrede of Elymelech.
And she went; and came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers; and she happened by chance to come on a portion of the land of Booz, of the kindred of Elimelech.
4 And lo! he cam fro Bethleem. And he seide to the reperis, The Lord be with you. Whiche answeriden to hym, The Lord blesse thee.
And, behold, Booz came from Bethleem, and said to the reapers, The Lord [be] with you: and they said to him, The Lord bless thee.
5 And Booz seide to the yong man that was souereyn to the reperis, Who is this damysel?
And Booz said to his servant who was set over the reapers, Whose [is] this damsel?
6 Whiche answeride, This is the womman of Moab, that cam with Noemy fro the cuntrey of Moab; and sche preiede,
And his servant who was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish damsel who returned with Noemin out of the land of Moab.
7 that sche schulde gedere eeris of corn leeuynge bihynde, and sue the `steppis of reperis; and fro the morewtid til now sche stondith in the feeld, and sotheli nethir at a moment sche turnede ayen hoom.
And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers: and she came and stood from morning till evening, and rested not [even] a little in the field.
8 And Booz seide to Ruth, Douytir, here thou; go thou not in to anothir feelde to gadere, nether go awei fro this place, but be thou ioyned to my dameselis,
And Booz said to Ruth, Hast thou not heard, [my] daughter? go not to glean in another field; and depart not thou hence, join thyself here with my damsels.
9 and sue thou where thei repen; for Y comaundide to my children, that `no man be diseseful to thee; but also if thou thirstist, go to the fardels, and drynke `watris, of whiche my children drynken.
[Let] thine eyes [be] on the field where [my men] shall reap, and thou shalt go after them: behold, I have charged the young men not to touch thee: and when you shalt thirst, then thou shalt go to the vessels, and drink of that which the young men shall have drawn.
10 And sche felde on hir face, and worschipide on the erthe; and seide to hym, Wherof is this to me, that Y schulde fynde grace bifor thin iyen, that thou woldist knowe me a straunge womman?
And she fell upon her face, and did reverence to the ground, and said to him, How is it that I have found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take notice of me, whereas I am a stranger?
11 To whom he answeride, Alle thingis ben teld to me, whiche thou didist to thi modir in lawe after the deeth of thin hosebonde, and that thou hast forsake thi fadir and modir, and the lond `in which thou were borun, and hast come to a puple, whom thou `knowist not bifore.
And Booz answered and said to her, It has fully been told me how thou hast dealt with thy mother-in-law after the death of thy husband; and how thou didst leave thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy birth, and camest to a people whom thou knewest not before.
12 The Lord yelde to thee for thi werk, and resseyue thou ful mede of the Lord God of Israel, to whom thou camest, and vndir whose wengis thou fleddist.
The Lord recompense thy work; may a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, to whom thou hast come to trust under his wings.
13 And sche seide, My lord, Y haue founde grace bifor thin iyen, which hast coumfortid me, and hast spoke to the herte of thin handmaide, which am not lijk oon of thi damesels.
And she said, Let me find grace in thy sight, my lord, because thou hast comforted me, and because thou hast spoken kindly to thy handmaid, and behold, I shall be as one of thy servants.
14 And Booz seide to hir, Whanne the our of etyng is, come thou hidur, and ete breed, and wete thi mussel in vynegre. Therfor sche sat at the `side of reperis; and he dresside to hir potage, and sche eet, and was fillid; and sche took the relifs.
And Booz said to her, Now [it is] time to eat; come hither, and thou shalt eat of the bread, and thou shalt dip thy morsel in the vinegar: and Ruth sat by the side of the reapers: and Booz handed her meal, and she ate, and was satisfied, and left.
15 And sche roos fro thennus to gadere eeris of corn bi custom. Forsothe Booz comaundide to hise children, and seide, Also if sche wole repe with you,
And she rose up to glean; and Booz charged his young men, saying, Let her even glean among the sheaves, and reproach her not.
16 forbede ye not hir, and also `of youre handfuls caste ye forth of purpos, and suffre ye to abide, that sche gadere with out schame; and no man repreue hir gaderynge.
And do ye by all means carry it for her, and ye shall surely let fall for her some of that which is heaped up; and let her eat, and glean, and rebuke her not.
17 Therfor sche gaderide in the feeld `til to euentid; and sche beet with a yerde, and schook out tho thingis that sche hadde gaderid; and sche foond of barly as the mesure of ephi, that is, thre buschels.
So she gleaned in the field till evening, and beat out that she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barely.
18 Which sche bar, and turnede ayen in to the citee, and schewide to hir modir in lawe; ferthermore sche brouyte forth, `and yaf to hir the relifs of hir mete, with which mete sche was fillid.
And she took [it] up, and went into the city: and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned, and Ruth brought forth and gave to her the food which she had left from what she had been satisfied with.
19 And the modir in lawe seide to hir, Where `gaderidist thou to dai, and where `didist thou werk? Blessid be he, that hadde mercy on thee. And sche telde to hir, at whom sche wrouyte; and sche seide the name `of the man, that he was clepid Booz.
And her mother-in-law said to her, Where hast thou gleaned to-day, and where hast thou wrought? blessed be he that took notice of thee. And Ruth told her mother-in-law where she [had] wrought, and said, The name of the man with whom I wrought to-day [is] Booz.
20 To whom Noemy answeride, Blessid be he of the Lord, for he kepte also to deed men the same grace, which he yaf to the quike. And eft sche seide, He is oure kynysman.
And Noemin said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed is he of the Lord, because he has not failed in his mercy with the living and with the dead: and Noemin said to her, The man is near akin to us, he is one of our relations.
21 And Ruth seide, Also he comaundide this to me, that so longe Y schulde be ioyned to hise reperis, til alle the cornes weren repid.
And Ruth said to her mother-in-law, Yea, he said also to me, Keep close to my damsels, until the men shall have finished all my reaping.
22 To whom hir modir in lawe seide, My douyter, it is betere that thou go `out to repe with hise damysels, lest in another feeld ony man ayenstonde thee.
And Noemin said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, [It is] well, daughter, that thou wentest out with his damsels; thus they shall not meet thee in another field.
23 `Therfor sche was ioyned to the damesels of Booz; and so longe sche rap with hem, til bothe barli and wheete weren closid in the bernys.
And Ruth joined herself to the damsels of Booz to glean until they had finished the barley-harvest and the wheat-harvest.

< Ruth 2 >